UK may lose billions of taxpayer money over Qatar military deal: Report

LONDON, 05 Sept. - (ANA) - The United Kingdom (UK) government could end up losing billions of its taxpayer money because it has underwritten a major military deal to sell Typhoon fighter jets to Qatar.

In a report published Monday on its website, the Daily Telegraph cited unnamed officials as saying that "billions of Exchequer funding" could be lost if Qatar defaults on the massive agreement with UK defense giant BAE Systems.

The sources said the contract runs the risk of "skewing" the government's credit agency "by concentrating about 25 percent of their portfolio risk in one transaction."

It added that British taxpayers would need to support the deal which is worth £6 billion ($7.6 billion).

BAE Systems announced the hefty deal with Qatar in December 2017, saying it would provide Doha with 24 Typhoon fighter jets as well as a package comprising weapons, pilot training and maintenance. The contract will be implemented at the end of this year.

The UK government has defended the deal as a major effort to secure jobs in defense industries while it claims that the agreement could bolster its security cooperation with allied countries in the Persian Gulf region.

UK Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson said recently that Typhoon jets would help expand "the Qatari military's mission to tackle the challenges we both share in the Middle East."

Britain has been a major supplier of arms and weapons to undemocratic regimes in the Persian Gulf.

The government has been accused of assisting Saudi Arabia with its devastating military campaign against Yemen where the Kingdom is using weapons supplied by Britain and other Western countries against civilians in the impoverished country.  - (ANA) -

AB/ANA/ 05 September 2018 - - -